


The Artist and his Muse

by Madamoiselle_Miraculous (Sweet_Spice_Sour_Sugar)



Series: Miraculous Ladybug Greek Myths AUs [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Orpheus and Eurydice Myth, Well - Freeform, greek myths au, its a little sad, its a lot sad, marinette is eurydice, nathanaël is orpheus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 03:25:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6139882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sweet_Spice_Sour_Sugar/pseuds/Madamoiselle_Miraculous
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nathanaël is a famous artist, known throughout the continent of Europe as the son of Apollo. He falls in love with his own muse, Marinette, and wishes to spend his life with her. But this will not be the case.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Artist and his Muse

**Author's Note:**

> I was studying the story of Orpheus and Eurydice for school and I really liked the myth, so I sort of molded it into something I could link to this. It's not quite set in the time of ancient Greece, but it's sort of similar I suppose?

Nathanaël was outside drawing. The young man sat against a rock, his paper in his lap as he gently sketched with charcoal the way the light fell on the trees, the way it blended with the forest to make the most peaceful area for him to practise his craft. Nathanaël, the son of the god Apollo and the muse Melpomene, was at peace. He wore a white toga, yet already it was stained with charcoal. It showed just how dedicated to his art he was.

The young man had been born twenty years ago, and since his birth he had been told he would become famous for his art. His fiery red hair would become a symbol; his sea-green eyes the ones that women all over the continent and then some would fall in love with. They loved his depictions of ladybugs and cats, and they loved the stories his art told about their culture. Nathanaël was loved by all.

But the young man had yet to find someone who he loved. While his art attracted hundreds of suitors to his door, he could not find anyone he truly loved. Yet on this fateful day, it seemed that love was the thing that would find him.

He was drawing peacefully, occasionally looking up to make sure nothing had changed. At one moment, he glanced up and noticed a young maiden wandering towards him. She was dressed like a ladybug, and she had raven black hair that was tied into pigtails with red ribbon. Piercing blue eyes stared into his, and she had the look of being lost etched into her face. The young woman approached him slowly, her hands clasped together.

“Hello, sir.” She started timidly, “I'm sorry if I've disturbed you, but maybe you could tell me where I am.” The girl laughed nervously, clasping her cheeks with her hands, pink flushes slowly appearing in small flowers under her fingers. She seemed absolutely adorable to Nathanaël though, even if she looked like she was completely embarrassed.

He looked her up and down for a while, then he smiled slightly. “It appears that you’re in a forest, mademoiselle. Where were you going, perhaps?”

“I don’t know.” The girl sighed, putting her hands on her hips, spreading her legs so she seemed more centred on the ground she stood upon. “I was going to Thebes. It seems I’ve gotten lost.”

The girl looked down at him, and soon she leaned forward to look at him. Her eyes widened slowly in recognition, and she couldn’t help but smile. “Oh! You’re the artist, Nathanaël! The one that drew the art of Apollo and the muse Melpomene.”

It was Nathanaël’s turn to blush. He stopped drawing for a moment, and let the charcoal fall to the ground. “Indeed. I am. I drew that picture to honour my parents, the god of the arts and the muse of tragedy.” He had not expected her to recognise him, but he supposed it was likely to happen. He was an artist that had been known around the world.

The girl seemed impressed, and she knelt down beside him and leaned on the rock. He noticed that the toga she was wearing had been dyed red, with spots painted on. She seemed to be attempting to evoke the look of a ladybug. “What are you drawing now, Nathanaël?” She asked curiously, her fingers weaving into her hair as she looked down at his drawing. He glanced over the way her fingers parted her soft hair, and the way the light fell over the strands, illuminating any highlights. Nathanaël glanced over her shoulders, and the way they stayed squared in confidence. He noticed the gentle curves of her breasts and her hips. The muscles in her legs. She clearly had been walking for a long time.

Even though Nathanaël had been sketching trees, he believed he had a new muse to draw. He turned the paper over and began tracing out the general shape of the girl’s face, began capturing the way her hair fell over her forehead softly. He immortalised the squareness of her shoulders and the curve of her body. Nathanaël highlighted her face, he made her look beautiful on the paper just as she did in real life.

They returned to his small home in the forest that night and fell into each other’s arms. He was able to hold those curves and her face, to relish in her soft lips and her kind touches. Nathanaël leaned her name: Marinette. They fell into bed together, holding each other tight and making love all through the night.

He wished to marry her, and they soon were under the tree which they met. Nathanaël was happy. He loved Marinette with all his heart, and he was to dedicate all his art to her. They were going to be happy for the rest of their lives.

But one day, Marinette was outside, celebrating her marriage to Nathanaël. Another child of Apollo was sent to pursue her, and he chased her all through the forest. In her haste to get away from the being that followed her, she mistakenly stepped on a venomous snake. When the young artist found her finally, she was already dead.

Tearfully, he buried her correctly by placing an obol under her tongue for the ferryman, and fell into a deep depression. He refused to make his art, finding that without his muse, he had no inspiration nor any desire to create anything beautiful again. Yet one day, the young artist found that there was one way he could get to his wife and return her to the land of the living. With only his charcoal, Nathanaël set off from his home and began his journey to Hades.

While he didn’t have an obol to give to Charon, the ferryman, he promised another gift. The young man knelt down before him and drew a flattering picture. This charmed the ferryman and it allowed him passage to Hades. To make his way past Cerberus, the terrifying three-headed dog, he sacrificed his charcoal and used it to distract him. When the dog paid no heed to the artist, he made his way to the seat of Hades, to ask the God for his love, Marinette.

“Please, great and noble Hades.” He begged, falling to his knees, “all I wish is for my wife, Marinette, to return to the land of the living with me. It was not her time to pass on, and I wish to simply see her again.”

Hades sat on his throne, his hand holding his chin up, his cold eyes staring down at the artist. He almost didn’t pity him at all, but like all the other gods and goddesses of ancient Greece, he had heard of the artist’s abilities and wished to be immortalised by him. “I will return your wife to you, Nathanaël, on one condition. You are to draw me into this tablet and take it with you up to the land of the living, and boast of my fairness to all.”

Nathanaël agreed and took his task in his stride. While it took him many days and nights, he very easily carved the god’s likeness into the stone. Impressed with his skill, Hades allowed him to take Marinette back to the land of the living.

“However, there is one condition. You may take Marinette back to the land of the living, but you may not look back until you leave the underworld for good.” Hades completed, waving his hand to summon Marinette. Nathanaël, pleased with his efforts, turned around and began walking home. He passed Cerberus and returned to Charon, who agreed to take him back. He managed to keep his eyes off his love, but something was troubling him.

As they made their way back to the surface, Nathanaël found that he could not hear the footsteps of Marinette’s as they walked. If he could not hear her, how could he be sure that she was still there? What if Hades had cheated him out of their promise? The thought nagged at him, and he was despairing at being unable to look to his beautiful wife. He needed to see Marinette. He needed to know that she was there and that they were going to be happy.

As they came up to the threshold of the underworld, just before the entrance of the living world, Nathanaël turned around to embrace his wife, which he had wished he could do since Hades had promised to return her, but Marinette disappeared in a wisp of smoke. Nathanaël had not completed the task, so he lost her forever.

Quickly, Nathanaël fell into a depression. Without his muse he could not bear to continue his art, he could not even bear to continue living in their home. He wandered the world, a melancholy spirit in mourning of the love that had been snatched away from him. In the end, a group of drunken women came across him. Furious that he refused to join in their merriment, they tore him to shreds.

But there was an upside to this. Due to his carving of Hades being found and displayed for all to see, Nathanaël was allowed passage into the underworld, and to Elysium where he spent all eternity with his wife, Marinette. They were finally happy.

**Author's Note:**

> This isn't going to be my only Greek Myth AU. I'm going to write one about Adrien as the God Eros and Marinette as the girl Psyche. 
> 
> For those who aren't familiar with the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus was a young man who was the son of Apollo and Calliope. He was a famous musician and fell in love with the nymph Eurydice who died from a snake bite. Orpheus travelled to the Underworld and used his wonderful musical abilities to charm Charon to take him to Hades. Hades was impressed with Orpheus, and allowed him to take his wife Eurydice back to the world above on one condition: he was not to look back to check if Eurydice was following him. Just as he was about to reach the exit, Orpheus couldn't handle it anymore and he turned to see his love, only for her to disappear suddenly. For the rest of his life, Orpheus wandered the world in depression until he was torn apart by drunk women, to join his love Eurydice in Elysium for eternity. :)


End file.
